The last load of the summer cattle we sold was in late October, normally the time of maximum pressure on the market and the lowest price of the year. Not this year, however.

Last week we sold the first of the new seasons cattle at a full 50c/kg below what we received in October. They were, if anything, better quality than their end of season colleagues.

It’s clear that there has been a shift in the market dynamics.

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I look forward to seeing a full explanation but from a farm point of view, if it is part of a new trend in beef prices, it throws our previous budget way off course and we will have to reassess our replacement programme to put it at its mildest.

Meanwhile, the recent strong winds knocked a few trees which we will cut up for logs. They will join a supply from last year’s storm which did much more damage to galvanised roofs which are all fixed at this stage.

We now have two wood-burning stoves kept going by logs which we store for at least two years before burning. Despite the fact that the area is becoming more urbanised, we find it almost impossible to sell logs in the locality as the preference is for logs kiln-dried in Lithuania.

With all the cattle in, we have tightened up the smaller stores to let us replace a few cracked and, in one case, a broken slat in a pen. We have a number of single 10ft 6in slats which I bought in a load a few years ago and we have been using them as spares ever since.

It’s hard to believe but in little over three weeks, we will be looking at getting the first of the slurry out for the 2026 season. At this stage we seem to have plenty of room in all the sheds.

Our preference will be – ground conditions permitting – to take a light grazing and then get the slurry out on grazed ground instead of fouling up the covers that have accumulated over the mild winter.

A fortnight or so ago, we put in the biological additive so a month should be enough to let the bacteria do their work.

We will know if it has been effective by having easier agitation and reduced smell.

These two are measurable – does it also reduce methane and ammonia as well? The honest answer is I don’t know.

On a lighter note, we were delighted to have a pre-Christmas visit from the beekeeper who keeps his hives on the place. He brought with him a generous amount of pure honey.

I hadn’t realised that with oilseed rape and beans flowering at different times in the late spring and summer, we could expect to be able to distinguish the different flavours depending on the source.